UCLA Health’s COVID-19 Swab Shortage Solved With 3D-Printed Swabs

What You Should Know:

– With COVID-19 numbers rising in California, an innovative project has solved UCLA Health’s testing swabs shortage with 3D-printed swabs. 

– In just over a month, and after conducting rigorous clinical testing of several 3D-printed swab prototypes on patients with COVID-19, UCLA Health was granted permission from the Food and Drug Administration to use the most promising design.

An innovative effort launched in April and led by a fellow in the UCLA Biodesign program has yielded positive results, solving the health system’s shortage of nasopharyngeal swabs – a key element in COVID-19 testing – at a time when Southern California is seeing